Big12 Expansion?

[Creed]

You do realize that the first question in the interview with Delaney is going to be "How fast can you move the conference HQ to Austin?" don't you?

Appease them with a satellite office just like Rutgers. B1G's universities like OSU, Mich, Penn State, Wisc will not drop their britches like many in the B12. The disparity in size, dollars, etc aint there with B1G schools

 

[Redux]

I would like to hear some real chatter from the media regarding a potential OU and KU move to the Big Ten.

 

[Scratchtown]

From Landthieves site. Kinda int resting

Just to document.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N789HU Norman to Chicago today and almost back now. it's Bob Moore's Auto Group, a fairly decent sponsor for OU medical and i believe we lease the majority of university vehicles

First flight to chicago in 4 months if that. , usually flies in the Southern US only two outliers are a trip to Omaha Nebraska in June and this Chicago trip.

 

[Hoosker]

The New B1G (Sorry Northwestern)

WEST

Kansas

Missouri

Nebraska

Oklahoma

NORTH

Illinois

Iowa

Minnesota

Wisconsin

CENTRAL

Indiana

Michigan State

Notre Dame

Purdue

EAST

Michigan

Ohio State

Penn State

Pittsburgh

Everyone plays a 9 game conference schedule

- 3 divisional games at the end of the year

- 6 games from the other divisions (2 + 2 + 2)

- Each school would receive the opportunity to play every other team in the conference at least twice, over a 4 year span.

Season Finales

- Kansas / Missouri

- Nebraska / Oklahoma

- Illinois / Iowa

- Minnesota / Wisconsin

- Indiana / Purdue

- Michigan State / Notre Dame

- Michigan / Ohio State

- Penn State / Pittsburgh

B1G Championship

- Game 1: WEST vs NORTH

- Game 2: CENTRAL vs EAST

- Championship Game

In conclusion, however unrealistic this may be, I believe it would be ideal for the conference's competitiveness and overall balance of power.

The WEST is a much welcomed Big 8 reunion that, I believe, would make fans of all teams involved happy.

The NORTH is perhaps the weakest in terms of prestige, but they are all traditional B1G schools with similar styles.

The CENTRAL is the most uneven of the divisions. Indiana and Purdue are perennial cellar dwellers. Notre Dame is major and Michigan State is on the rise.

The EAST is the powerhouse division. The two premiere B1G programs, Michigan and Ohio State, alongside old rivals Penn State and Pittsburgh.

Rivalries would be renewed. Balance to the conference would be restored. Divisions that make sense geographically.

What do you guys think?

 

[nic]

I would prefer a 4+2 with the other Pods (rotates every year) and 1 CG. No sense in adding more possibilities of losing before the playoffs.

Oh...and I like Northwestern, I want them back. They can have a rivalry trophy with with Nebraska. We can call it the 'NU' trophy with the winner getting to use the

acronym for two years.

 

[nic]

I would like to hear some real chatter from the media regarding a potential OU and KU move to the Big Ten.

I think the GORs are a problem so we have to wait about 10 years. Although if anyone can break a GOR its Texas.

 

[Stumpy1]

Some Longhorn fans think there is smoke with KU and OU and that it might lead Delany to pursue Texas along with poaching Mizzou and adding ND plus another East school. Texas thinks their brass would jump at an invite from the B1G.

I know that many, if not all, would hate to have Texas in the conference but I think it would help elevate the B1G past the SEC. I bet that would make ND rethink their position with the B1G and spurn the ACC and join.

 

[Redux]

I would like to hear some real chatter from the media regarding a potential OU and KU move to the Big Ten.

I think the GORs are a problem so we have to wait about 10 years. Although if anyone can break a GOR its Texas.

If Texas feels their status is threatened, they will dissolve the Big 12 before anyone can beat them to it by leaving. If OU and KU openly said they were in talks, Texas would fire back with likely the Texas 4 pack to the Pac 12.

Some Longhorn fans think there is smoke with KU and OU and that it might lead Delany to pursue Texas along with poaching Mizzou and adding ND plus another East school. Texas thinks their brass would jump at an invite from the B1G.

I know that many, if not all, would hate to have Texas in the conference but I think it would help elevate the B1G past the SEC. I bet that would make ND rethink their position with the B1G and spurn the ACC and join.

Adding Texas, Notre Dame, Mizzou, OU, KU, and say Virginia would be a game changer towards realignment. Not only would the Big 12 be killed off, but the ACC would likely fold as well due to the SEC pillaging them. The Pac 12 would have to settle for the remnants of the Big 12 and we would be left with 3 super leagues.

 

[nic]

I would like to hear some real chatter from the media regarding a potential OU and KU move to the Big Ten.

I think the GORs are a problem so we have to wait about 10 years. Although if anyone can break a GOR its Texas.

If Texas feels their status is threatened, they will dissolve the Big 12 before anyone can beat them to it by leaving. If OU and KU openly said they were in talks, Texas would fire back with likely the Texas 4 pack to the Pac 12.

Some Longhorn fans think there is smoke with KU and OU and that it might lead Delany to pursue Texas along with poaching Mizzou and adding ND plus another East school. Texas thinks their brass would jump at an invite from the B1G.

I know that many, if not all, would hate to have Texas in the conference but I think it would help elevate the B1G past the SEC. I bet that would make ND rethink their position with the B1G and spurn the ACC and join.

Adding Texas, Notre Dame, Mizzou, OU, KU, and say Virginia would be a game changer towards realignment. Not only would the Big 12 be killed off, but the ACC would likely fold as well due to the SEC pillaging them. The Pac 12 would have to settle for the remnants of the Big 12 and we would be left with 3 super leagues.

I think the only interesting expansion that would happen in the near term (short of the Big 12 adding a couple teams), is if Texas decides to implode their conference.

I really hope the Big 10 doesn't go past 16 teams, but I guess if they added 6 more we would still play each other every 3 years. (home and home every 6). The Big10 would probably be going after 6 of the following teams (no order, although I think the top 6 are first): ND, Texas, Virginia, NC, OU, Kansas, GTech, Forida, Iowa St. Missou, Vandy, Duke, Texas A&M

I think FBS football could get to four 20 team super conferences. There are 64 in the current power 5, 4 independents, and if we consider Boise, Uconn, Cincy, other teams from Florida and Texas that have value in recruiting, plus a few other MWC teams like Air Force, SanDiego St and maybe Colorado St., we can get to 80. The ACC would probably end up being an odd looking conference geographically. It would be interesting to see who the last 6 to 8 teams are that get in and to watch the fight over the Texas teams.

 

[VectorVictor]

Some Longhorn fans think there is smoke with KU and OU and that it might lead Delany to pursue Texas along with poaching Mizzou and adding ND plus another East school. Texas thinks their brass would jump at an invite from the B1G.

I know that many, if not all, would hate to have Texas in the conference but I think it would help elevate the B1G past the SEC. I bet that would make ND rethink their position with the B1G and spurn the ACC and join.

There is no way Mizzery is giving up being the SEC East and ESPN darling to join the B1G, and no way Notre Dame will join the B1G--that bridge is quite toasty.

Plus, there's a lot of smoke to the Oklahoma and Kansas to B1G move. Enough that our favorite mentally-challenged journalistic whore-cum-beatwriter Chip Brown is getting in on the action. And we all know Chip is a tool, in more than one sense of the word, so for him to suggest that something is afoot with Oklahoma and that their Schooner isn't hitched...

Oh, and did anyone check out the nice, soft, pillowy words that Trammell wrote about the B1G's scheduling model?

The Big Ten’s 1910 scheduling initiative is a sign of a conference with vision. The nine-game format, with mandated quality of opponents, and the Big Ten’s championship game, will give the Big Ten all kinds of ammunition in the committee room of the College Football Playoff....The Big Ten’s scheduling initiative also enhances the Big Ten’s television package, which expires in two years. More conference games, fewer (or none) matchups against I-AA foes, means more quality television and thus more money from networks hungry for live programming.


The Big Ten acts like a conference that plans to be around for the next century. With the Big 12, you wonder about the next decade.

Huh...last time I checked, he was slagging teams like DoNU for moving to the B1G. Now we have an about-face with one of OU's biggest beat writers praising the B1G?

Something's going on, especially when your beat writers and team chuckleheads are preparing the masses for potential paradigm shifts and talking up greener pastures.

 

[Creed]

Plus, there's a lot of smoke to the Oklahoma and Kansas to B1G move. Enough that our favorite mentally-challenged journalistic whore-cum-beatwriter Chip Brown is getting in on the action. And we all know Chip is a tool, in more than one sense of the word, so for him to suggest that something is afoot with Oklahoma and that their Schooner isn't hitched...

Oh, and did anyone check out the nice, soft, pillowy words that Trammell wrote about the B1G's scheduling model?

The Big Ten’s 1910 scheduling initiative is a sign of a conference with vision. The nine-game format, with mandated quality of opponents, and the Big Ten’s championship game, will give the Big Ten all kinds of ammunition in the committee room of the College Football Playoff....The Big Ten’s scheduling initiative also enhances the Big Ten’s television package, which expires in two years. More conference games, fewer (or none) matchups against I-AA foes, means more quality television and thus more money from networks hungry for live programming.


The Big Ten acts like a conference that plans to be around for the next century. With the Big 12, you wonder about the next decade.
Huh...last time I checked, he was slagging teams like DoNU for moving to the B1G. Now we have an about-face with one of OU's biggest beat writers praising the B1G?

Something's going on, especially when your beat writers and team chuckleheads are preparing the masses for potential paradigm shifts and talking up greener pastures.

That is interesting. You think Trammel would be in the know more than your average blogger throwing out CR predictions. Also given that the B1G is generally the easy target for criticism, that he now is showing the B1G in a positive light. It seems there's some coordination going on with OU's athletic dept with Boren's comments and some key media reports. Something might be happening in the next 12-18 months given the B1G's TV contract is up in 2017 (I believe).

 

[VectorVictor]

Plus, there's a lot of smoke to the Oklahoma and Kansas to B1G move. Enough that our favorite mentally-challenged journalistic whore-cum-beatwriter Chip Brown is getting in on the action. And we all know Chip is a tool, in more than one sense of the word, so for him to suggest that something is afoot with Oklahoma and that their Schooner isn't hitched...

Oh, and did anyone check out the nice, soft, pillowy words that Trammell wrote about the B1G's scheduling model?

The Big Ten’s 1910 scheduling initiative is a sign of a conference with vision. The nine-game format, with mandated quality of opponents, and the Big Ten’s championship game, will give the Big Ten all kinds of ammunition in the committee room of the College Football Playoff....The Big Ten’s scheduling initiative also enhances the Big Ten’s television package, which expires in two years. More conference games, fewer (or none) matchups against I-AA foes, means more quality television and thus more money from networks hungry for live programming.


The Big Ten acts like a conference that plans to be around for the next century. With the Big 12, you wonder about the next decade.
Huh...last time I checked, he was slagging teams like DoNU for moving to the B1G. Now we have an about-face with one of OU's biggest beat writers praising the B1G?

Something's going on, especially when your beat writers and team chuckleheads are preparing the masses for potential paradigm shifts and talking up greener pastures.

That is interesting. You think Trammel would be in the know more than your average blogger throwing out CR predictions. Also given that the B1G is generally the easy target for criticism, that he now is showing the B1G in a positive light. It seems there's some coordination going on with OU's athletic dept with Boren's comments and some key media reports. Something might be happening in the next 12-18 months given the B1G's TV contract is up in 2017 (I believe).

Yup. Couple this with the Finebaum reports of Oklahoma wanting to move (though he claims to the SEC...which I don't see happening), the chatter on ShaggyBevo and FrankTheTank...something is happening. And I don't think it's just posturing to force the Big XII to make a move.

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

Greasing the skids to break apart from Okie Lite.

total guess but why else would this come out?

 

[VectorVictor]

Also, since I mentioned FrankTheTank (who was at the forefront of some of the most accurate realignment conjecture out there, including building the case for why it was going to be Nebraska, and not Mizzery, getting a B1G nod back in 2010), here's some more articles and insight from his latest piece (July 29):

Included in the piece is *another* OU Beat Writer Tramel love note to the B1G, courtesy the ESPN garbage that suggested DoNU would want to go back to the Big XII. Of note:

Academic standing does a play huge role in most conference realignment. I know that when OU and OSU were considering jumping to the Pac-12, the academic side of OU (and I assume OSU) was thrilled at the prospect of joining a conference that included the likes of Stanford and Cal-Berkeley.

I would have liked to read more about Nebraska and the AAU, which unceremoniously kicked out Nebraska from the association in 2011. Some speculate that the Big Ten would not have invited Nebraska without its standing in the AAU. I know that one of Boren’s long-term goals is to get OU admitted to the AAU.

The FtT article has tweets from d!(k Weiss regarding the Fox Sports column supporting the notion of KU and OU moving to the B1G, but then clarifies that it's a column, and not indicative of Fox Sports itself (read: CYA).

Just remember that Fox Sports is a majority shareholder in the Big Ten Network, has the Big Ten Title Game, and is rumored to be aggressively going after Tier 1 games to minimize or lock ESPN out of B1G content (especially since Fox wants to push most to all of the Tier 2 content to the Big Ten Network, where there's a better return, fiscally speaking.)

And FtT also addresses that this recent blitz isn't just PR by OU to force the Big XII to act:

David Boren’s comments about wanting Big 12 expansion with the “right schools” was more of a warning shot to the rest of the league because, frankly, the “right schools” wouldn’t ever take a Big 12 invite.

If I were running the Big Ten, it’s time to take advantage of one of those rare moments where a national football brand name is essentially begging for offers. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: if we assume that Texas, Notre Dame and ACC schools are off the table, then the single most valuable expansion that the Big Ten can have at this point is adding Oklahoma and Kansas.

Also, one more important point that is brought up in the comments section of this article. Kansas has been riding shotgun in at least 90% of the scenarios presented for realignment. We've heard from Oklahoma (directly via AD and indirectly), as well as Texass (indirectly)...so for Kansas to be eerily silent on this is rather suggestive.

Perhaps Kansas is farther along in the process than OU/UT (e.g. agreement in principle?, NDA?) and are merely silent until they figure out who their moving buddy is...

 

[Redux]

Ya know, I completely expect OU and Okie Lite to end up divided by the end of this. KU and KSU are almost a lock to be split up. Difference is the future is bright for KU.